The news, thus far, has been mixed.

On the upside, the first store I stopped in to talk with (Gamer's Haven in Parma, OH - www.screamingdragon.com), was very receptive to the idea of running D&D Encounters - in fact, he tried running season 2, but since everyone in the area was already playing at my other store, it dropped off pretty quick.

In a couple weeks, he'll be getting a dozen players, I think he'll be pleasantly surprised.  :)

Alas, he doesn't have a space to put my Saturday LFR gamers, so that hunt goes on.  On the upside, there are a plethora of game stores in the area.  On the downside, few of them are as clean and well lit as my old FLGS.

Siderant: Why is that?  Why are comic shops and game stores so often disorganized, poorly lit, and otherwise. . . not-retailish?  I should prolly rant about that sometime. . . . in another post.

Further complicating matters, Saturday gaming space is often at a premium.  I was able to get D&D going at Recess because the old Saturday event (Blood Bowl) had just ended its season, and there was a lull - RPGA gaming fell right into that spot perfectly.

Now, especially with cold winds starting to blow in the Cleveland area, game space is filling up fast!  So the hunt is still on to find my LFR gamers a new home.

I've put some feelers out there, we'll see what comes back.

Being connected with WotC as I am (as a SVCL/Community Advocate, not to mention the conventions I help out with, and the fact that I'm an LFR Admin (Community Manager) now), comes with certain perks.

From time to time, I'm fortunate to come home and find a happy little box waiting on my porch.  This week, I came home to find such a box, and nestled inside, lovingly concealed under a bunch of inflatable packing material - was a copy of the new D&D Essentials Rules Compendium.

I made myself wait to finish dinner, lest my greasy fingers smudge the cover and leave imprints on every third page, before I really dove into it.  It was an exercise in self-control, I promise you.  My wife just rolled her eyes at me as I kept stealing furtive glances at the small off-white book sitting back in the living room.

"I've never seen a D&D book that was a paperback before," she quipped, obviously realizing the war for my attention was over, and that if she couldn't beat the book, she may as well join the book.

It was the foot-in-the-door I needed to explain what's happening with the Essential Line of books, and how as a "quick reference" this book especially is made to be ultra-portable and ready to sling into a backpack, or passed around a table when a ruling is needed "STAT".

She nodded patiently and let me ramble on.  As a non-gamer, she's learned to indluge me, and let me blow off some geeky steam - as it's best to let the pressure off slowly, lest my chores go undone when I can't restrain myself anymore.

My daughter just giggled as I rambled, and gabbled something to herself about "cheese?  More cheese?"

Eventually, after capturing my toddler, bathing her, putting her to bed, doing the dishes, and taking the dog for a walk, the time for Essentials had come.

First Impression

It's fortunate that I'd already made notes at DDXP 2010 where R&D talked about the format for these books, otherwise, I confess, I'd have been a little shocked.  Take any of your D&D hardbacks, cut a good inch off the side margins, and about an inch and a half off the top/bottom, and you have a good idea of the size of this book.  But, despite being a paperback - it still has the same thinkness as, say, the PHB2.  

When you see the two books side-by-side, this isn't very impressive.  When you hold the Rules Compendium in your hand, however, you can really start to appreciate the bulk of content contained therein.  With updated rules from the Player's Handbook AND some content from the DMG - the pages are fairly well packed with knowledge to make any Rules Lawyer wet himself with glee.

I also like the added touch of making it a "lay flat" book.  Near the spine the cover has creases you can fold back - this gives the book some stabilty so that if you flip the book open to a page, it can sit there and remain open with little difficulty - much like your hardback D&D books do now, but unlike, say, a Wheel of Time novel.  We've all fought with those thick books, switching hands back and forth because the binding and spine is so tight your tumb gets tired from holding - nay, prying! - the pages apart as you read.

The Rules compendium doesn't suffer this issue in my experience.

But of course, several of you are grinding your teeth at this point, and likely shouting "THE CONTENT!  GET TO THE CONTENT!" at your monitors by now.  I'll ask you to kindly not blame your computer equipment for my rambling style of writing.  It's isn't their fault, don't shoot the messenger.

Reading (skimming) the book

To be fully honest, I didn't *read* much of the Rules Compendium, and even now (almost a week later), I'm still only picking out bits and pieces of it.  While I'm not an expert on the rules, I know them all well enough to fake it, and re-reading content you (think you) already know. . . well. . . it doesn't quite drown out the siren call of StarCraft II.

However, I've read through enough of the book to be fairly impressed with the way the information inside is presented.  

Case in point, almost every pair of pages has a sidebar, filled with information that, while optional, is informative about any given topic.  From what it means to Improv to a list of Default Move Actions, or even (somewhat combining the two) how to improvise actions with the Acrobatics skill.

Also impressive (to me) is a great illustration of the new planar cosmology (page 42, which is a wonderful place for it).  They also take the time to spell out a few details of "The World of D&D" - using a list of ten things new players should know, much like the list they published for D&D Encounters (and here on the WotC website) for what you need to know about Arthas.  Each bullet point (A Dark World, The World is a Fantastic Place, Adventurers are Exceptional - to name a few) is then followed by a brief paragraph to help the reader imagine this world they're stepping into.

All great content for the new player, but what about the experienced players?

While people are going to draw their own lines on the "is it 4.5" debate - I think if you read this book, at least, you'll see very quickly that this is VERY much 4E.  Let me be clear on this point.  This book doesn't "work with" 4E.  It isn't "compatible with" 4E.  It just IS 4E.  

There's been nothing I've read in this Rules Compendium that hit me out of the blue as odd or unusal.  Even the new rule for Magic Item Rarity (which I won't spoil here, sorry kids, you'll see it for yourselves soon enough) strikes me more as . . . rewording the difference between Magic Items and Artifacts than anything else.

Of course, until I see examples of the "Uncommon" and "Rare" items, I won't know for sure if my interpretation is correct or not.

D&D Encounters and the Rules Compendium

Well, part of why I delayed in writing this blog so long (real life and real job issues aside) is that I wanted to give my D&D Encounters group a chance to peruse the book, get familiar with it, and to get their feedback on it.

I set the book on the table about a half-hour before we got started, and everyone took turns flipping through the pages.  Alex commented on the artwork, Aaron dove straight into the index to get a feel for the layout.  I think in both cases they were happy with what they found.

Daniel (I know, these names mean nothing to my readers, but hey, it helps me - and if they read this post, they'll probably be glad to see their names in "print") asked about the content, clarifying that these are the rules with all the updates built-in, and seemed happy to have the book as a resource at the table as well.

Now, due to circumstances beyond my control, we've managed to fall a week behind in encounters, so we were fighting a group of nasty little Zartail lizards.  It wasn't long before the Rules Compendium was being passed around - starting with the perennial classic - grab.

"What can I attack while the Bonebreaker has me grabbed," asked Alex.  And to reply, I just gestured to my new friend, the Rules Compendium.  Aaron picked it up, flipped through, and after we found the reference - Alex was glad to see that he could attack anything, really, so long as he could reach it from the square he was immobilized in.

It wasn't long before my players were looking up things like swarms, and making sure they were clear (since the book was right there) on the differences between a close blast and a ranged blast, or between burst and blast.  All the niggling things you're pretty sure you know, but you wouldn't have the confidence to really discuss at length.

Now it was all right there, in one small book, for anyone to use.

Overall Impressions

Overall, in the two hours we played , I'd say at least 4 or 5 things were looked up at one point or another, which quickly made this the most popular book we've used in a while.

Somehow, it just felt faster/easier to use than for people to grab their PHBs, flip to a given page, share the results, etc.

I think part of that is the new size/format of the book.  Something about the hardback books (while I know and love them - and they look so pretty on my shelf!) makes them . . . unwieldy for a quick point of reference.

Overall, it's an effect I think most people are unaware of (or at least, I was) until this new, smaller book stepped into my life.  Now?  I don't think I'll be DMing (or playing!) anywhere without a copy.

I can't speak for the rest of the Essentials line, coming out later, but the name surely fits this book.  I've had it a week, read only bits and pieces, and I know it's the one book I'm sure to bring with me when I game from here on out.  DDI replaces most everything else I need, especially as I only get to play RPGA games (which have all the rest of the content I need built-in)  Truly, an essential part of my gaming stock from now on.  :)

It has been an odd 3(?) months for me.

I'm not going to delve into the boring details (work, personal life, blah) but, suffice it to say, I've been gone from being truly active in the world of D&D for several months now.

I think the real breaking point was when my FLGS, where I began an RPGA "chapter", has stopped offering in-store gaming.  The reasons for this are varied, but mostly revolve around a lack of available space in-store.  

What hurts is that the owner is someone I consider a friend.  He isn't just "the owner" - he's someone who's house I've been to a few times, someone I've debated politics and philosophy with.  He's given my wife and I a baby shower gift, when I've needed extra $$ he's given me a job in the store (admittedly a quid pro quo arrangement, as, come Christmas season, I'm one of his most reliable helpers).

So, I've been left in a conundrum - a quandry of sorts.  What do I do with my organized play?  I don't have the gift of time or space to run a home campaign.  Alas, it's never been something I've been exposed to (as a player, OR as a DM), so without an RPGA playspace, I've been feeling more than a little adrift.

My group is splintering into smaller home-groups.  We play RPGA content, but we do so at each other's homes now.  We meet at the store, to follow the spirit of the RPGA rules, and in the (eternal) hopes that we'll pick up a new player or two "this week" - and then we break into smaller groups and go to people's houses, or to the community rooms at local librarys (or even coffee shops) to get our gaming in.

It works, but it's. . . not ideal.

Now it turns out that my FLGS is moving into an even smaller space.  We've been told, point blank, we should start using another store as our home base for things like Game Day events.

While I dreaded such news, it's freeing in a way.  I now know I can go setup at another local store, without fear of burning bridges at "my" FLGS.  And so, with the delivery of that news this morning, I suddenly find myself somewhat reinvigorated.  My gaming, my hobby, is no longer a source of stress. 

Now?  I have a new challenge ahead of me.  Pull together the old group, pick a new store (I already have one in mind), and re-establish myself as the "go-to" guy in my area for RPGA events.

What's odd, to me, is how much I'm actually looking forward to starting over.  It isn't a "clean start" as I'll be bringing most of the same guys with me once we get settled in, but . . . I don't know.  A new venue, a new set of owner and employees to befriend, and a new player base to try and attract - it just strikes me as a great opportunity.

It's time I stop wallowing in indecisiveness, and time to take the leap again.

And I intend to do so full-force.

Welcome to my return to the forums, to the mailing lists, and back to the gaming community.  I start again today, and I welcome all of you to come along for the ride. 

What was especially interesting was how different WotC made things for this particular game day.  As is only properly befitting for a day celebrating the art of Dungeon Mastering, this particular Game Day wasn't your typical pre-published event set to explore new player mechanics or to show off monsters.

Instead, what WotC put forward this time was a really nice introduction to creating a couple encounters more or less from scratch.

Now, as my previous blog post has probably made clear - despite my years of experience with D&D, and with running a table. . . I'm only a Dumgeon Master (some would say) in a loose sense of the word.  I've never really tried my hand at crafting my own story, nor have I even had the bravery to try my had at designing even a single encounter.  To say that I was intruiged, but somewhat trepidatious about this exercise when I first sat down would be more than fair.

As luck would have it, I was actually visiting WotC this last few days - and Chris Tulach recommended and took me down to Olympic Cards and Comics in Olympia to experience Game Day (and it's an AWESOME shop if you ever find yourself in the area - it's seriously HUGE and has EVERYTHING).

So, once things got rolling at the store I snuck a peek at the instructions for the event.  WotC had provided the following:

1) a two-sided map, intended to be used for encounter one on one side, and encounter two on the other.
2) Minis and pre-gen characters for the players
3) About 20 NPC monsters for the DM - and a pintout of their stats
4) Worksheets for designing Encounter 1 and Encounter 2
5) Suggestions and templates for plot, encounters, monster combos.

We had an assigned "Leader" for our group (Zack, one of the store's regular DMs) and without much ado we dove right in.

We chose to combine a couple of the provided plotlines, so that we had a cave full of baddies that had both kidnapped some villagers - and were using them to summon a nasty breed of demon - so time was short, and we wanted to build on that so people would try to get the villagers back ASAP.

It was amazing to me how quickly, once we got past even that relatively simple step, the rest of the adventure/encounters started to fall into place.

I'll spare the play-by-play of what we came up with, and instead skip to what really caught my attention.

Selecting a suitable mix of monsters to make the most of your terrain is a BREEZE thanks to WotC's "Experience Point budgeting".  You look at the level of your party, pick "easy, average, or tough" - and you look to see how much XP-worth of monsters you should throw at the party.  There's still an art to finding the right mix (artillery + brutes + lurker?) of monsters - but that's more for finessing an encounter.  It struck me that as long as your NPCs are of a similar level (give or take a few levels) as your PCs and you stick close to the listed XP for an encounter?  The general sense of balance (and with it - FUN) will take care of itself.

After we lovingly crafted our adventure (again, without having seen the selection of monsters, or other details beforehand) I have to say I was surprised that we'd written a two-encounter adventure (from bits and pieces, admittedly) in just over an hour.

From that point our DM took our story to another table, and a new DM joined us - running another table's fruits against us, and boy was it BRUTAL.  For an average and a hard encounter, we felt challeged to the max - and that was great too.

It gave us a chance to both craft fun for others - but then to see how quickly and easily something that was a challenge (but not an abusive/overpowered) adventure could be tossed together.  Now, I later learned that our New DM had led his original group by the nose a bit as they just didn't really "get it" but all the same, even with his experience as a DM - he was able to piece together from the same parts an adventure that was quite different from what we'd come up with, and made it feel as if it had been crafted lovingly over several days, instead of being tossed together in an hour's time.

The net result is that I walked away from this Game Day with new faith in my own ability to craft an adventure for my friends - and in fact, given that some of my friends are trying to steer me in that very direction, I'm feeling more and more inclined to let them have their way.

Only time will ultimately tell - but the confidence I've gained from this experience in seeing how simply and quickly the pieces all "snap together" is something that I would never have found in myself.

For that I'd like to thank WotC, as this little "tutorial" was just what the doctor ordered.  I hope more people around the world took the plunge and came away with the same satisfaction.

I'd also like to thank the fine people at "OCC" for their hospitality, their table space, and their friendly staff (Gabbi is quite a trip!)

Now, I suspect there are those of you who know me wondering what in the world I'm talking about.  I go to GenCon and spend almost all my time in the Sagamore Ballroom helping to man RPGA HQ, similarly at Origins, there I was behind the desk in the room wiht all the RPGA action.

But at neither convention did I have a chance to actually play the game - and even the RPGA group at my FLGS (the group I started which, in turn, got me started with the RPGA about three almost four years ago) has nearly forgotten what I look like.

I've nobody to blame but myself really.  While I do read every bit of D&D book I can get my hands on (I'm still working my way through the Eberron Campaign Guide, there's SO MUCH content in there! and I've a couple other reads I'm working on) I just don't have - or at least make the time to get out and actually enjoy the game.

This is something I'm trying to change in a couple ways.  First - while I miss my FLGS, I think I'm going to start up a game here at home - not sure if its going to be Living Forgotten Realms or if I might take the plunge and work on *gulp* actually crafting my own Eberron-based game.

The scariest part of a home campaign, for me, would be that I've never - like, ever been involved in a custom campaign.

I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons (2nd Edition, represent, yo!) in 1993, I was 16, and acting in (I think) Charlie and the Chocolate factory - a couple of my friends played and I'd always been interested in fantasy and mythology - and had heard about D&D through, well, all the rumors and speculation that surrounded the game (largely fueled by a couple of made-for-tv movies along the lines of Mazes-and-Monsters).

So, I joined those guys for a couple "episodic" games - starting with the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar, and we played another module once, I don't recall the title - there was something about wandering through the woods, and there was a giant plant that tried to eat us, and we met a tribe of lizardmen and had to bargain with them?  I know, not much to go on.  I think it was a FR module, but I wouldn't gamble on it.

From there I found GenCon to be my sole annual outlet for Dungeons and Dragons - I'd read through the books I could buy (which was an amazing collection for someone who never played, if I say so myself) and I would dream about a campaign - then at GenCon I'd play through about 10-12 games and be as sated as I could be for another year.

From there I eventually learned about the RPGA, started a local group, and we took up Xen'Drik Expeditions.  When that ended I took up Living Forgotten Realms.

Now, with my daughter (at six months old I'm already prepared to declare her a wizkid, but then, as her Daddy I'm probably biased), and assorted other commitments, I find that I haven't rolled a d20 in at least 4 months - so I'm Jonesing.

But, I think my dilema is clear.  I've never had a DM to show me the ropes of starting out a campaign and writing a module - much less a storyline - all from scratch with nothing to fall back on.  So, I've also never had a safety net of someone else to fall back on.

After all this time of running modules written and published by WotC and of the RPGA I find myself quite alarmed at the idea of running without the "crutch" of someone else's work - yet I'm intruiged by the possibilities presented by the tapestry of Eberron.  If there was ever a world where I think I could make it work, that's the world I'd trust.

So I'm thinking that for my own personal sanity - I might just have to give it a shot.  Have some friends over, work on characters and backstories, and. . . give writing a shot.

. . . or maybe I'll just ask some of the LFR authors to write something for me.

I spent a good share of time, probably too much of it, actually, in the RPGA's Sagamore Ballroom, on the clock of off of it, volunteering my little heart out.

It was the best of times for the sheer volume of people I got to meet, including (finally!) meeting Keith Baker, hearing Patrick Rothfuss give a reading, spending time with several WotC people (including the likes of Trevor Kidd, Chris Tulach, Mike Donais, Didier Monin, Josh who's last name I've forgotten, and actually QUITE a few more.  Too many to list properly without putting people to sleep, I fear.

Besides WotC people and staff, and old friends from previous conventions, as well as the RPGA "crew" - I also met quite a few of the Twitterati, ChattyDM, NewbieDM, BetterWithMayo, and still more.

As a social event - this was the best GenCon EVAR.

As a gaming convention?  I failed.

I didn't roll a single die, play a card, move a pawn, or even catch any of my beloved anime.  I definately did something wrong here.

Yet, now that I'm home, and typing this through eyes that can't quite focus properly, awaiting the return of my wife and daughter from a visit with friends (no, I'm not at ALL jealous they weren't awaiting me when I got home.  A lesser man might be, but I'm happy to have our dog sleeping on the couch next to me. . . I guess. . . *sigh* ) I can't look back at GenCon as anything less that it's perennial "awesome time"

Maybe its the atmosphere - blending in with people who, while they may or may not share your particular interests - are still people who "get" you, and know what it is you like, and accept you for that all the same.

Then again. . . maybe it's just the catgirls.

What a day full of adventure and surprises.

Today is the first day of GenCon 2009, and I made the mistake of staying up entirely too late last night. . . or rather, this morning.  Hot tip, kids - if you're going to be working/volunteering at 7:30 in the morning, you should really go to sleep before 3:30.  Trust me on this one.

Happily, until right after dinner, the lack of sleep didn't really hit me very hard.  The Convention Gods have smiled upon me.

There have been a few goodies throughout my day today, however.  Let's see if we can't recap some of them.

First off, people playing in the delve might like to see a listing of what prizes are available and for how many tokens.  Lucky you, I've got the hookup.  I also happen to know a little bit about the characters available for the Delve. 

I managed to catch a picture of both Mike Donais and Didier Monin together at the DDI Character Builder station in the Sagamore Ballroom.

Last cool find of the day?  New D&D themed Jones Soda bottles!  Squeeee!  Better pics of the bottles to come later.

There's more, of course - so SO much more, but alas, I've missed many things due to my extended nappage. 

Will do my best to come up more (and more interesting) posts as the show progresses tomorrow and beyond.  :)